World Famous Comics: Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
By: Art Spiegelman Publisher: Pantheon Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Pantheon Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 144 Publication Date: September 01, 1992 Release Date: September 01, 1992
Product Description: MAUS was the first half of the tale of survival of the author's parents, charting their desperate progress from prewar Poland Auschwitz. Here is the continuation, in which the father survives the camp and is at last reunited with his wife.
Great Book It was a great book and it was a used book in very good condition, practically new.
Not a comic book! Puts into life the past and the now. How people who lived through the Holocaust kept the habits that they had to learn to survive the Nazi death camps. Old habits are very hard to break.
Fair but a lot of rambling. After finishing the first book, I immediately went into Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began and expected the same result. Unfortunately, this time, I didn't like the book that much. It was a lot of rambling and going off the point, and sometimes, the author would finally focus on the Holocaust story. It's basically the same structure as the first book, and at least this time, there is an ending. Really, there shouldn't have been two books, only just take the essentials from the second book and attach them to the end of the first book. That would be good enough for me. Another problem about Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began is that there isn't a message; just a story to be told which is fine with me. I wrote for the last book, "There are some negatives about Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History. One is the unnecessary use of profanity words. As I agree that the book is a great education tool for schools (I took a Holocaust class in high school, and the book was part of the class as well as with other books), it would be advisable just to apply the white-outs on the profane words. Two is the grammatical errors throughout the pages. I don't know if you noticed them, but they are sometimes distracting as I was unsure if that's what the author's father really said or something like that. In conclusion, I can put the blame on Art Speigelman for his careless writing. Three is that the author can sometimes make his book go off the topic. It is just a minor complaint. Four is the depiction of the nationalities through choices of animals: Polish = Pigs, Jewish = Mice, French = Frogs, Germans = Cats, etc.). From the negative reviews, I can understand the problem here, and it's a delicate line here because for one, it's ingenuous yet it is offensive. Sometimes, the Polish people are given a racist labeling of their race through the words in the book. Five is that I mostly read the words in the book rather than looking at the pictures since they were bland to my eyes. However, the graphic novel approach makes the book an engaging read for the young students. So, my criticism means nothing in this point of view. Six is the presentation of a daunting idea of survival during the Holocaust. Not many people are skillful when it comes to politics and negotiations. This gives a discouraging message for the less bright or less able people that only the smartest or the most able survives." Thinking of them, I would say that most of them apply the same to Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began. All in all, the book is okay and has an ending.
If You've Already Read "Maus I" I don't feel like writing a long review detailing every reason why I like Maus. Instead I'm just going to recommend to everyone who has read and loved Maus I like I have to finish the story. I didn't pay much attention to the cover when I bought Maus I, and didn't know that I bought only the first half. The second half adds to Art and Vladek's relationship and it portrays the one of the Holocaust's darkest part with an eye witness account of the concentration camps.
My only complaint was how the story just ended. The story is finished and you know what happens to all of the characters, but I thought there was more to tell with Vladek's story after the war.
Regardless, the ending is still great, as is with the rest of this masterpiece.
Haunting Once you pick this book up, you won't put it down until it's done. Just as compelling as "Maus I", here Spiegelman continues to interweave his difficult (and at times humorous) relationship with his aging father and the story of his father's horrific past. This unassuming graphic novel brings the Holocaust and its after-effects to life more hauntingly and effectively than anything else I've read. Deserves a place right beside it's Pulitzer-winning companion.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
